well, i have gotten quiet a lot done. no REAL organizing yet, just detailed piling. lol things are looking better though. i’m still very, very overwhelmed. especially seeing all of these photos together in one spot that need to be scrapped. i also have a huge photo box that is totally full that isn’t in this picture:

memorbillia sorted in a file crate i picked up at Wal-Mart yesterday. a lot of this was already started, i just haven’t been adding to it since 2005. so now it’s moved into a big crate and i have 4+ boxes of stuff to go through that will either end up in this crate waiting to be put in an album or tossed in the trash:

a great find at Wal-Mart yesterday. $4 each on clearance. these will be my photo category drawers.

here’s a positive sign that i really am making some progress…………a big pile of trash!!

baby steps! i have to keep telling myself that i CANNOT do this in a day! i’m thinking a couple of months…………. whew.

okay, over the weekend i started gathering ALL of my photos and memorbillia into our dining room. well, as much as i could find because i’m afraid that there’s probably more somewhere down there in the deep, depths of our basement. but, this is a good start……….. the first step to getting all of this organized………….taking deep breaths here because this is really starting to freak me out! i knew i had a lot of printed photos to scrap, but geez………….seeing them all together is pushing to towards a panic attack and to think that i just rolled over the counter on my digi camera in january and that there are 1,000’s and 1,000’s of digi photos on my computer waiting to be printed and scrapped…………*sigh* did i mention that my camera counter rolls over at 9,999?????????? good heavens. that’s a lot of photos.

Not much longer for me to wait for this one! The B-52’s have a new CD coming out on March 25!!!! It’s just been 10+ years since their last one…………..it’s okay, i don’t mind waiting. how fun is this????

They came to town last summer for a free, outdoor concert. I have to brag that I won tickets to the radio stations front-stage, special guest area. Free food and drinks, seats, and up-close B-52’s!! I was the first person to call in and name the “Lost 80’s Track” song/band. It was “I Got You” by Split Endz and I knew it on the first beat. I knew that one day this mindless plethora of 80’s music trivia would come in handy. My family had so much fun at the concert. It was quiet an experience, because I was 7 months pregnant at the time! It’s pretty hard to po-go with a big, baby belly. lol I managed, but I remember being so scared and freaked that the loud music was going to cause her to be deaf. Isn’t that horrible? lol My belly was vibrating because we were right by the speakers. Oh well, Doodle is perfect and she does seem to perk up whenever she hears a B-52’s song. lol I got some AWESOME photos, too. I can’t wait to scrap them………….all 170+ of them……….lol Here’s a good group shot:

wacky day it was last tuesday. i’ve been kind of wonky since then. lol let’s just say that my emotions were on both sides at once. elated and distraught at the same time.

let’s see, the good………..i finally got my Photo Freedom Book!!!!! i was SOOOO excited when my UPS guy dropped it off on my front porch! oh my gosh, can i just say how much i LOVE this book? i’m still very overwhelmed at the idea of the whole thing, but excited at the same time to get started. you can order it here: Simple Scrapbooks. here’s my awesome book:

okay, and now for the bad. the same day i got my book, Brett Favre announced his retirement………….. 😦 I’ll just leave it as I am a HUGE Packers fan……..and he’s going to be missed. boo hoo. i just can’t say anymore………………;-) lol

Impatiently, if I might add. Very impatiently. I’m not known for my patience. Not at all. I ordered Photo Freedom by Stacy Julian on February 23th…………now I’m waiting. Oh, I want this book NOW! I NEED this book now. lol There isn’t any way that I would ever be able to take her on-line class at Big Picture Scrapbooking so I am absolutely thrilled that she has put her photo sorting system into a book. Now i just want my book! I can’t wait to get it!!!!

Here’s a jar that I altered. It’s a jar where I toss in as much of my weekly allowance as possible. We are on a very strict budget so that we can have our children in private schools and so that I can stay at home with little Gracie. I’m glad that I have an allowance. I’m sure that some people are appalled at the thought, but it’s the only way to keep me in line with my spending and especially with my scrapbook supply buying binges that I can go on. I admit it. I’m a binge shopper when I’m stressed and I’ve really been under a lot of stress lately. It’s taken every ounce of my will power to not go out and buy scrapbooking supplies. Anyway, I was given a gift card to Archiver’s for Christmas and I held onto it until the middle of January. It took me that long to decide on what I wanted. How silly is that? But, I didn’t want to blow it on paper and items that I could only use once. I wanted a tool or something that would last and get my money’s worth out of. After lots of thinking and lots of researching on the net, I decided to get a Big Shot. First of all let me just say that I LOVE MY BIG SHOT!!!! Plus, the one I got is pink and black and I’m all about anything that’s pink! It even has some bling on it! lol It also came as a kit with the adapter so that I can use other companies dies. The main reason why I wanted one was for cutting letters. I have been hand-cutting out my letters from plastic templates for years. So, now that I have this new, totally cool toy, there are alphabet dies that I want to buy and they aren’t too cheap. That means that I have to plan and save and wait for coupons, which is fine because it gives me time to really think about what I want and decide what I will use the most. Well, saving meant that I needed some place to keep my change and so I decorated this jar. I just can’t put my change in something plain! I just had to alter this jar to hold my pennies! Needless to say, I used all scraps and papers from my stash. That flower paper is probably 10 years old! Toss in some buttons, foam letters and flowers, lots and lots of ribbon and some old alphabet stickers and here ya go: My Scrap Cash Jar!

Oh, and if you’re wondering if I’ve been able to buy anything yet with my scrap cash………..:-)

Here’s what I got this weekend thanks to a 30% off coupon at Archivers: